Waltham runner Liz Palmer hurdles to tops in nation

Thursday

Aug 14, 2014 at 1:06 PMAug 14, 2014 at 1:06 PM

By Scott Souzassouza@wickedlocal.com

Nearly four decades after Waltham resident Liz Palmer’s promising running career appeared to come to an end, she is back running with the top sprinters and hurdlers of her age in the country.Growing up in the Denver area, Palmer was a high school hurdling star. She was a state finalist in 1978 and her 100-meter hurdle record set that year still stands at her alma mater. She went on to compete at the University of Northern Colorado before an Achilles injury ended her career.At least, for 25 years it did.Palmer said she moved on to family and career over the next quarter century – running road races to keep in shape, and although she missed track, rarely thought about seriously competing in the sport ever again.It was 2005, she said, when she learned about "masters" level track and decided to return to the track in earnest."It was one of the hardest physical things I have ever done," she said.She competed in her first national championship meet at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston in 2006 and went on to race at the World Masters Indoor Championships in Canada in 2010 and was a silver medalist in the 80-meter hurdles and 100-meter dash when the Worlds came to her then-hometown of Sacramento, California in 2011.Currently, the age-group American record holder in the 60-meter hurdles, the 54-year-old moved to Waltham in 2012 and set out to continue her resurgent track career at the 50-54 masters level in the Boston area."We have Olympians and NCAA collegiate champions competing as masters athletes," she said. "The level of talent is pretty remarkable. In 2010, and in 2012, I had a couple of outstanding seasons and was ranked first in the world for the sprint hurdles in my age group."No matter what your skill level, you will gain health, vitality, and lifelong friends when you compete as a masters athlete."Despite all of her hard work, Palmer’s track career hit another road block last year when she tore her Achilles tendon and was unable to compete."It was very hard to come back after this injury," she said. "And the older you get, the longer injuries take to heal."Still, she made it back for the indoor national championships held at Reggie Lewis in March and won the 60-meter hurdles. This summer, she traveled to the outdoor national championships at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina where she brought the 80-meter title back to Waltham."After such a bad injury," she said, "it was so gratifying to come back and win both titles this year."Now in her fifth decade of running and hurdling, Palmer shows no signs of slowing down, and has tried to help younger athletes find the skill and passion that has fueled her during her comeback. Last year, she worked with Joe Tranchita at the Waltham Track Club two days a week specializing in the hurdles."It kept me involved in the sport while my injury was healing and I love working with the kids," she said. "Hurdling is a very challenging skill and it takes lots of patience and practice. I was lucky enough to have an excellent coach in high school, and I helped coach my youngest son in the hurdles while he was in high school, so I know how important individual attention can be for an athlete."While a job change prevented Palmer from working with the club this year, she still works out at J. Lee Gould track and looks forward to seeing the next generation of Waltham athletes train as she continues to set the pace for her generation."I still see them occasionally when I do my own workouts at Leary Field," she said. "It's fun to see them working as hard as they do."Scott Souza can be reached at 781-398-8006 or ssouza@wickedlocal.com.